Madison— Wisconsin jumped to 20th in the nation this month, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s leading index.

First of all, if April was revised from a horrible 49th-place outlook to a still-bad 40th, and then you go to 20th, that's not a 29-spot improvement. 40 - 20 = 20. No wonder this administration is failing....and absurdly cynical.

And yeah, I'd looked at the report earlier in the day, and I wouldn't be bragging if I was the Walker boys if I was them. That great outlook they're trying to prop up says that Wisconsin is projected to have its economy grow a tepid 1.11% the next 6 months, which puts it below the rate of U.S. growth for the same time period, and middle of the pack for the Midwest. And even when you include this sunnier outlook, Wisconsin would still be well below all of its Midwestern neighbors in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, 12 months away from the 2014 elections. (I'll link to the actual report once its website is back and running).

It's also telling that Wisconsin is the only state in the Midwest that still hasn't had its economic index come back to the levels it was at in December 2008- a time that has had the U.S. grow by more than 5%, and several Midwestern states grow by more than that. And note the main part of that lag started in December 2010.

The context-free blatant cynicism of the Walker Admin taking the time to do a press release on one barely favorable outlook tells me 2 things.

1. They really do think the media and their supporters are so stupid that they'll accept these things at face value without looking into them (given the record of the last 3 years, that's a good bet).

2. They're really desperate for any good economic news, which tells me that the reality of Walker's failures is getting through to the public, and taking its toll in the polls. They're leaking oil, they know it, and they're just hoping to sneak that fact by the clueless bystanders the next election. Then they can let the state REALLY go to hell with their deficit laden budget and lack of options to fix it.

Which is why people like me have to keep writing things like this, so they're not allowed to get away with their failures. And despite the Walker boys' spin, they're still failing big-time.

About Me

This cat's a 40-something libation-enjoying gabber still trying to do the right thing. Watch his crazy adventures as he works and stumbles his way through the great world of public service in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, while keeping tabs on Bucky Badger and the next Great Depression. I'm told I'm big in Oshkosh.